To accommodate unprecedented mobile traffic growth, leading operators
worldwide, such as China Mobile, SKT, NTT and Orange, are evolving their
Radio Access Networks from distributed to a centralized base station
model to maximize return on CAPEX and OPEX while improving spectral
efficiency. A centralized RAN architecture lowers CAPEX through reduced
site engineering expenses and improved baseband utilization. OPEX is
reduced through lower power consumption, site leasing and maintenance
expenses. However, centralizing baseband processing requires a
high-capacity, high-reliability fronthaul network capable of
transporting Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) up to 20km from cell
site to baseband processing resources.

“Solving the mobile fronthaul networking challenge is the key to
enabling C-RAN,” said Dr. Chih-Lin I, chief scientist of wireless
technologies, China Mobile Research Institute, CMCC. “CMCC is looking
for more cost-effective, scalable and carrier-grade fronthaul solutions.
As the standard protocol for carrier-grade transport, OTN is a very
compelling option and we’re excited to see ecosystem partners like PMC
innovating to deliver solutions that address the networking needs of
mobile fronthaul.”

“Distributed remote radios in a C-RAN architecture has tremendous
potential to address expanding mobile capacity and coverage needs, but
it creates a fronthaul networking problem that PMC has now solved,” said
Babak Samimi, vice president of marketing for PMC’s Communications
Business Unit. “PMC’s new OTN-based mobile fronthaul solution not only
meets operator needs, it also allows carriers to build on their
end-to-end OTN strategy and benefit from the operational efficiency and
management simplicity that comes with a converged network.”

Based on PMC’s field-proven
HyPHY
20Gflex and
HyPHY
10Gflex devices, the reference design provides the OTN management
and protection functionality required for large-scale RAN deployments.
PMC’s innovative new embedded software measures and reports uplink and
downlink latency, equalizing it to within nanoseconds. The solution
supports up to 16 CPRI links on a single wavelength to maximize fiber
resources.

Availability

PMC’s fronthaul reference design will be available in March 2015. The
reference design includes software and firmware updates to the existing
HyPHY SDK and firmware binary files, FPGA sample code, as well as
application notes. With this reference design, existing HyPHY
20G/10Gflex designs can be easily upgraded for CPRI fronthaul support.
For more information, visit
http://www.pmcs.com/fronthaul.

PMC (Nasdaq:
PMCS) is the semiconductor and software solutions innovator
transforming networks that connect, move and store big data. Building on
a track record of technology leadership, the company is driving
innovation across storage, optical and mobile networks. PMC’s highly
integrated solutions increase performance and enable next-generation
services to accelerate the network transformation. For more information,
visit
www.pmcs.com.
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